


Conversations that Never (Definitely Should Have) Happened

by Ryuukashi



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Others if I keep getting prompts, Scenes from a hat, mostly - Freeform, prompts from Facebook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 7,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27936997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuukashi/pseuds/Ryuukashi
Summary: Zuko has meaningful conversations with people, and has a few well-deserved laughs.Interactions that never happened in the series, but would have been awesome to see.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	1. A Dream of Roku

**Author's Note:**

> I asked on Facebook for names of characters Zuko should have had a heart-to-heart with, and got some stellar responses. I didn't mean for all of these to be canon compliant, but they all ended up meshing pretty well, so here we are.

What is this place?

This is a dream, Zuko.

You, I know you.

You have seen my face before, at the Fire Sage's Temple

Avatar Roku!

Yes, young Fire Prince. 

Why are you in my dream?

Your spirit called to me. You are facing great inner turmoil, and deep in your subconscious, you called for help.

I don't need help! I can do this on my own.

Of course you can. But it might be a little easier if you talk it through, either with your uncle or me, here safe in your dreams.

You might be right...

A wise leader takes good council, and weighs all the input.

Hmm... okay. What should I say?

Why don't you start with what is troubling you right now.

Right now... We're refugees. You called me Fire Prince, but I'm living in a slum in Ba Sing Se. And the Avatar is here! I should be trying to capture him, while he has no bison to escape!

Is that what you want to do?

Yes!

Why?

... What do you mean? That's what I've been trying to do for three years.

What will capturing the Avatar do for you?

It will bring me honor.

There is honor to be had elsewhere.

It will prove I'm not a coward.

I imagine that facing Azula head-on when she tried to trick you into captivity proved that. Sneaking into the very heart of the Northern Water Tribe on the night of a full moon proved that.

Well... it's my destiny.

Which part? Capturing the Avatar, returning home, or becoming Fire Lord?

All of them! In that order!

That is a mighty destiny, then.

That's right! And it's mine.

But is it what you want, or are you destined to chase unhappiness?

I don't understand.

I was the Avatar, Zuko, but I still found a woman I loved, married her, and had children. Even the most profound destinies cannot stop you from doing what you want, and being happy.

What I want... is to be strong. Untouchable. To go home and be adored, and be an honorable Fire Lord.

There is nothing about the Avatar in what you just said.

Huh, I guess there isn't, but how am I supposed to get home without capturing the Avatar?

That is a difficult question to answer. Do you want to go home while the man who disfigured you sits on the throne?

He would welcome me back with honor if I had the Avatar. He said so himself!

But he said that while the very existence of the Avatar was in doubt. Generations had gone by without a new Avatar being found.

Because it wasn't their destiny to find him. It was mine.

And when the Avatar was discovered, he sent Admiral Zhao to capture him instead. 

... 

...

I want to go home.

You are a Prince of the Fire Nation. There is a long history of deposing your family.

You mean, kill my father?

Not necessarily. As with your destiny, there are many roads that lead to the same destination.

Kill my father...

Something like that.


	2. On the Nature of Firebending

So now here Zuko was, walking in the woods above the Western Air Temple, hating himself even more. He was here to help the Avatar. He was here to teach the little Airbender how to Firebend. And now he couldn't even do that himself. What was wrong with him?!

He tried again, punching as hard as he could, channeling his hatred and self-loathing out through his fist, but all he got was a tiny puff of dull red flame. "Aaarrghh!"

"Who's there?" It was a gruff older voice, and Zuko's eyes snapped up to find a thin old man with white hair sticking out at all angles. The old man had a scared line through his right eyebrow and down over his eyelid to his cheekbone. The tattered red-brown robes said he was Fire Nation, and the fierce look in his eyes spoke volumes about his service to the Army. "Who are you?"

Well, Zuko couldn't just tell this man his name. He was a fugitive again, wanted in every city, town, village, and campsite in the Fire Nation. "None of your business," he growled, but he could see the flicker of disbelief in the man's steely eyes. "Who are you?"

"No..." drawled the man, "I know that face." He pointed, and adopted an amused expression worthy of Azula. "You're the exiled Prince!" Zuko tensed and set his feet, ready to defend himself, but the man dropped his arms to his sides and guffawed. "Destiny has brought me good company tonight!" He moved stiffly and sat on a fallen log, wrapping the hem of his threadbare cloak around his feet. When Zuko did not relax his stance, the old man laughed again, and said, "Relax, boy, I'm not going to turn you in. They'd have me in irons, too."

Zuko's hands fell, but his feet stayed. "Who are you?" He recognized that scar, and the irony that the man had recognized his own.

"My name is Jeong Jeong." He folded his hands in his lap. "The Deserter. The first deserter. And I am the last person you should worry about handing you over."

That was a name he knew. Jeong Jeong had been a Commander, a brilliant tactician, and a masterful Firebender. Destiny had brought Jeong Jeong good company, and it had brought Zuko a teacher. He sat in the dry leaves and blurted, "I need help with Firebending!"

"Of course you do. Everyone in the Fire Nation does, they just don't see a reason to fix what works for them." He smiled knowingly, and added, "Plus, I saw the red flicker before. You have lost your anger, your fuel."

Zuko was frantic. "Is there something else I can use? Some other power to give me back my bending?"

"There are as many forms of fire as there are forms of humans," explained Jeong Jeong. "So, who are you?"

"That's not a simple question," the Prince complained. "I am me."

The Commander laughed. "Of course you are. I ask because we must find the piece of you that is strongest, and base your kind of fire off that." He raised his left eyebrow, the unscarred one. "Do you know how Firebending works?"

"Of course I do!" Zuko declared, but stopped. "I mean, my uncle always said that the breath becomes energy, and the energy becomes fire."

Jeong Jeong nodded. "That is the basic mechanism, yes. But the breath must also create energy for the rest of the body. Firebenders sacrifice their own body's functions to produce fire. That is why so many of us are so thin." He motioned to Zuko's wrist, which was still bony even after almost two months of hearty meals in the royal palace.

"But also," the Commander continued, "our emotions provide the fierceness, the impetus, the trigger, for turning that energy into visible flames. Anger is not the only emotion, young Prince." Zuko nodded, and Jeong Jeong kept going. "So, who are you? What emotion do you have that is strong enough to burn bright without you?"

"I- I don't know," Zuko stammered. "For so long, anger was all I knew." Jeong Jeong nodded his understanding. "It was all I had. It was all that kept me alive. What am I now?"

The old Firebender leaned close and patted Zuko's knee. "The answer to that question will create your fire."


	3. Azula's Fate

The high, mocking voice filled the room. "Oh, look. The conquering hero approaches." Azula didn't even stand from her cot in the cell. "What could you possibly want from me, Zuzu?"

Fire Lord Zuko clenched his jaw and suppressed the urge to blow smoke from his nostrils. He kept a level of calm in his voice. "When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." He let himself smile at his sister. "I'm just here to check on you."

His sister scowled back. "Did our fool of an uncle tell you that? Sounds like nonsense to me." She finally stood, slinking toward the bars like a hunting cat, and her voice took on that familiar manipulative croon. "Do you really think people can change? You certainly haven't. Still the same weak, simpering coward, come to talk me out of being assertive instead of just executing me and being done with it."

"I won't ever hurt you," he stated, emphasizing each word. "That's what our father would have done. It's what he did do." Zuko squinted his eyes, which he knew from long hours in front of mirrors, made his scarred eye crinkle and catch the light in a horrific way.

Azula just mocked some more. "Oh, boo hoo, daddy burned me for being a coward and now I can't escape the memory."

Zuko closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He loved his sister, despite all the horrible things she'd done to him. She had been exactly what their father had wanted, and she had suffered for it. In some ways, even worse than he had. But she wasn't ready for this yet.

The Fire Lord turned on his heels and took measured steps toward the prison guard at the door. Azula started to mock him again, but he cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'll come back to check on you again. Maybe then, you'll have a better idea of who you want to be." She screamed his name, but he strode into the hallway, and felt the heavy thud of the stone door closing behind him echo in his heavy heart.


	4. Grandfather's Advice

How do I end this war?!

The same way I started it.

I- I don't recognize you. Is this a dream? Who are you?

I'm your grandfather.

Azulon? I apologize, Fire Lord. Please excuse my impertinence. I meant no disrespect.

I am not your father, boy. I tried to punish him for his cruelty. Little did I know, he was cruel enough to actually go through with it.

But, you don't look like the grandfather I knew.

Spirits appear how they want to appear. This was what I looked like in my prime. Hah, I suppose I am still a little vain.

What did you mean, that I could end the war the way you started it? I thought Sozin started the war.

He struck the first blow, certainly. But there were a lot of people, Fire Nation citizens of every rank, that did not agree with him. To actually get the war effort moving after he died, I had to find a way to get them on my side.

You continued a monstrous legacy. You could have reversed it all, right then!

I could have, and erase my father's crowning achievement, label my father's entire reign as cruel and spurious, tarnish the name of the Royal Family for generations-

You should have done SOMETHING!

I did! I slowed the march. I set the focus on colonies and sieges instead of razing everything to dust. And I tried to give my firstborn son just a taste, a tiny invisible kernel of compassion.

It wasn't enough.

No! No it wasn't. But it's very easy to see that once events are past.

So... how did you convince people to follow you?

A lot of public appearances, propaganda about the glory of the future of the Fire Nation, and silencing talk about our failures.

I don't want to do that.

You are a very young, optimistic Fire Lord. You might be able to get away with what I think you are planning. But my second spawn did a very good job of indoctrinating people. There will be those that fo not believe anything until it is presented the same way and from the same source as before.

Aang told me about the textbooks in schools, but I had to see it myself to believe it. Oh, geez, there are people who went through their entire childhood being taught propaganda as fact.

Now you're getting it.

So what can I do?

Lean on emotion. Play up the Glory to the Fire Nation angle, that's what they've been hearing all their lives. But now, glory is to be had in cooperation, peace, and the search for knowledge, not conquering and destruction.

What if I fail? What if I have questions?

Find a man named Daino. He was a close friend of Iroh's as a child, though they grew apart. He has his own interests at heart, but he knows how to play people by their emotions to get what he wants. Study him, and use what you need, but never trust him.

Okay.


	5. What Toph Wants, Toph Gets

Minister meetings were so tedious.

Ozai had called them War meetings, and they had been filled with Generals who wouldn't so much as breathe heavily in his direction. Now, with the war over, Fire Lord Zuko instead brought Finance Ministers, Ecology Ministers, Defense Ministers, Infrastructure Minnisters, and half a dozen others into the Throne Room monthly.

And these man had no qualms about trying to deceive and coerce their young Fire Lord.

Zuko felt a pebble in his right shoe bounce twice. Minister Daino had just said something untrue. "Minister, I hate to cut off your declarations for this month's budgetary needs, but I must insist that you speak with full sincerity at this table."

The old man's face went pale, and he stammered an apology, before quickly revising his numbers.

Zuko clicked his heel against the floor twice, thanking Toph for the assist. She had been truly invaluable in his court, especially since she could be two rooms away and still perform this service for him. He had become known for his shrewd judgement of character, and his ability to sus out a lie as easily as breathing.

After the end of the war, Top had point-blank refused to go back home. She was still thirteen, and her parents still technically had a reward posted for her safe return. So instead she had opted to stay in the Fire Nation and help Zuko restore the honor that his Nation had been lacking for so long.

She found him in his study after the meeting. "I don't know what that old geezer was saying, but he really didn't want you to question it."

"Yeah," Zuko laughed, "you saved me a few hundred gold pieces for unnecessary investments. But," he cocked his head to the side instead of just raising an eyebrow, so she would sense the movement, "is this really what you want to do with your time now?"

"Sparky, you ask me that once a week," she replied with a sardonic smile. "If I ever feel the urge to go somewhere else, I'll just go." She shrugged her shoulders with the same unflinching confidence that had made her such an implacable adversary, and such a steadfast friend, one of the first Zuko had ever known.

"I've always admired that about you, Toph." The Fire Lord poured a cup of tea from his personal kettle and held it out for her. "You have never done a single thing you didn't want to do, from the day I met you."

Toph reached out and took the ceramic cup with care. "It wouldn't work for you," she said, bluntly. "You have too many grand responsibilities now. I would never be able to stop myself from smashing people's heads together, with all that petty squabbling and pointless anger." She swung her arm around just a little too fast, and the hot tea splashed over the side of the cup and onto her hand. "Ouch! Why is everything so hot here?"

Zuko stood and crossed the space between them. He took the small cup that she could see and the hot liquid inside that she could not, and set it on a small table nearby. "Here, let me see." He took her hand gently, keeping his fingers away from the red splotch that was only just beginning to form. He knew all too well what touching a fresh burn felt like.

He closed his eyes and focused on the energy, Firebending at its purest, most basic form. He could sense the heat in the burn, still doing damage despite the source of the heat being gone. He took a breath, and teased the energy away from the burn and back out into the air where it could do no more harm. "There you go. It shouldn't get any worse than that, now."

"Hey, that actually does feel better," she said with a grin. "Thanks, Sparky."

"Truly a pleasure, my friend."


	6. Finding a Song

It had taken ages for Zuko to convince his guard Captain to let him leave the Fire Nation alone. He'd done it by single-handedly defeating the entire guard squad on duty in a sparring match. Literally, he had tied one hand behind his back, and still floored them all. That Captain was stubborn, but good at his job. He was a steadfast ally. But for this, Zuko had to be away from Fire Nation uniforms.

Now, he rode an ostrichhorse on a deserted Earth Kingdom trail, green tunic fluttering in the dusty breeze, listening to the sounds of leaves and birds. A second beast padded along behind him, constantly reminding him of the purpose of this trip.

He remembered this clearing. His uncle had tried to make tea with a White Jade plant. When he had started breaking out in hives, they had gone this way, to the little town in the valley. There it was! Finally. Zuko pressed his ankles into his mount's flank, and they descended.

It was a simple thing to find the little doctor's hut they had visited before, but when Zuko asked around, Song was nowhere to be found. A few people remembered her and her mother, talented doctors, they said. Shame they stopped coming to town.

With his two ostrichhorses, Zuko made his way up the steep slope of the mountain to where he remembered Song's house. It was a treacherous climb on a good day, made easier by the mount, but would be impassable in rough weather either way. Had it been this bad before? A lot of that time was a blur of anger and questionable decisions in Zuko's memory.

When he reached the familiar arched gate and ostrichhorse paddock, Zuko dismounted, and stood in disbelief. The house was there, the gate, the yard, all as he remembered them. But there were no ostrichhorses tied in the field, no chickenpigs in the yard, no candles in the windows. What had happened to Song?

He tied his own steeds to the fence, and stepped into the silent yard. Song had opened up about her past right there, on the porch. And here, they had laid out a huge spread of roast duck and made sure Zuko ate his fill. He stepped carefully now, into parts of the house he had not seen, parts of this girl's life she had not shared.

There was a thick layer of dust on everything. In one closet, Zuko found an old bag of grain, sprouted and growing strongly in the light from a crack in the wall. No one had used this in a long time. Farther in, he found bedrooms, bathrooms, a screened back porch with the rotted remains of two rocking chairs.

With a little searching, he was able to locate a book, hidden in one of the bedrooms. He wouldn't have guessed Song could write, but then again, it could be her mother's. He flipped the dry, cracking pages carefully, trying to preserve what he could.

"Without Prancer, we can't get to the village at all. The rockslide blocked all the toads between here and there. I can't work to make money to buy another ostrichhorse, to be able to get down the hill to work. We are stuck, isolated. If Song's father had returned, or those refugee men had left us our Prancer, we would be able to make it. But now..."

"We are subsisting for now. The chickenpigs are almost gone, but the grain we used to feed Prancer will last awhile yet. Song is trying to learn how to make a bow so we can hunt. She is so optimistic. It's hard sometimes."

That was the last entry. Zuko closed the book, and placed it just where he had found it. He had been the one to steal their transportation. He had done this. He tried to hold back tears. He failed.

On his way back to the door, a scratched bit of wood on the table caught his eye. It was a similar handwriting to that in the journal, just with straighter lines from being carved with a knife. "We have gone East."

Zuko's heart soared. They might not be dead! His chances of finding them were abysmal, but they had at least left here alive. He would keep looking. And until then, the second ostrichhorse would live a life of luxury in the Capital City, waiting to be gifted to the people who had unwillingly saved Zuko's life more than once. He would not give up.


	7. A Jet Blast from the Past

It had been a very long day of public hearings. Once a month, Fire Lord Zuko held open court, something none of his predecessors had done for generations, and today his patience was wearing thin. If he had to look at another couple of men arguing about fishing rights...

So when he saw a striking mop of greasy brown hair slip out the door during his decision speech, he motioned for his guard to request that person stay and meet with him privately. He was curious. It looked like the same hair that a ragged refugee boy with a pair of hookswords used to have. But the infamous play performed by the Ember Island Players had said that boy died. At least that was the implication. It was all very unclear.

Back in the antechamber, a relatively small but spacious room where private audiences were often held, Fire Lord Zuko found a young man about his age, maybe 20 years old, milling around anxiously by the wide window. At the sound of the door, the man turned, and golden eyes met deep brown ones. Zuko stared with awe and confusion. It was Jet. But how? Here? Now?

Jet's fingers drummed an anxious beat on his thighs, but he smiled when he spoke. "I was right; you were a Firebender."

Zuko felt like a scared kid again, and had to toll his shoulders and remind himself that they weren't enemies anymore. The War was over. Firebender wasn't a curse word in the Earth Kingdom anymore. And Jet had come here, to the heart of the Fire Nation, of his own will. "I- I thought you died," the Fire Lord stammered, cringing at how unsure he sounded.

Jet gave a wry smile. "I thought I was gonna die. My ribs were crushed into a million pieces, and we were surrounded by Dai Li."

Zuko grimaced. "I honestly don't know, if I had been there, whether or not I would have helped."

"I don't know if I would have accepted your help," Jet chuckled. The two settled into tense silence. "So... how did you decide what you wanted your life to be?"

Zuko was surprised at the question. "I, uh, always kinda knew I wanted to be here and do this," he rubbed the back of his neck, where the longer hair tickled at his collar. "But it took a lot to see that I had to do it a different way." He moved to one of the high-backed chairs and poured himself a mug of tea. "Do you want some?"

Jet waved the offer away, trying to be polite, or at least neutral. He waited for Zuko to take a seat in the chair, and continued. "I have been wandering," he breathed, and Zuko had to lean in to hear him. "And wondering. I don't want to be angry. I don't want to fight anymore."

"That's good," Zuko soothed, "that's a place to start." He leaned back in his chair. "Once you know what you don't want, you can start to build an idea of what you do want. I knew I didn't want to be like my father. So, eventually, everything I did was to stop him from doing the things I knew were wrong."

Jet leaned against the wall and mused, "So I don't want to fight, so maybe I can do things to help other people be happy and not have to fight?"

"Sounds good to me," Zuko shrugged, and sipped his tea. "Just remember," he added, "there are people you have hurt personally. They may not want your help, like you would not have wanted mine, that day under Lake Laogai."

Jet nodded slowly. "There are people I should apologize to." He looked up at the young Fire Lord. "Does it get easier?"

Zuko thought for a moment before he answered. "I think it does, but some things will always hit hard. But you've made it this far, so you can do it."

Jet nodded, and smiled. "Thank you." And Zuko smiled back. That was the first step.


	8. Mother's Garden

Zuko heard the door of the Throne Room chamber open and turned from his Minister of Finance to see who had entered. "Mom!" He gave Minister Daino a look of apology and dismissal, and the old man bowed and departed, leaving the Fire Lord alone in the massive meeting hall with his recently-returned mother.

Ursa knelt and bowed. "Fire Lord Zuko."

"Mom, please," Zuko almost begged, and took her hand to help her up. When she stood before him again, he smiled and said, "The silk suits you."

"It suits this face better than my other," she chuckled softly.

Zuko smiled, but noticed a tension and discomfort in her stiff back and square shoulders. "It's this room, isn't it?" he asked, a barely audible murmur against the soft crackle of flames along the front wall. When she nodded, he took her elbow. "Let's take a walk, then."

Ursa let her son lead her from the room and out into the hall, wondering where they were going. The whole palace held evil memories for her. But Zuko's confident stride and unscarred smile from her vantage point brought her comfort. "What happened to-" she started, and then changed tack. "Tell me about Avatar Aang."

Zuko caught the intent of the first question, but knew all too well the pain hidden behind it. He answered the second. "He was twelve when we met." When his mother's eyes went wide, he laughed. "Looks good for an original Air Nomad, huh?"

Her soft laughter filled the halls and his heart. He had missed this.

"Aang didn't see the genocide," the young Fire Lord continued, "so he really had no fight in him at first. Even after being chased, imprisoned, chased again, killed, and hunted, he was still a kid, a pacifist raised by long-dead monks." He waited for Ursa's nod, and continued. "He flat-out refused to kill Ozai."

Ursa flinched at the name. "So, he is alive? Surely not here?!"

"No, not here," Zuko soothed. "He is in the capital prison, outside the caldera."

"Oh," she breathed, golden hazel eyes darting to the tall rock walls of the long-extinct volcano like they might collapse in on her under a strong breeze.

Zuko patted his mother's hand, resting in the crook of his elbow. "But somehow, the whole thing worked out. It was like Destiny was determined to change the course of Fire Nation history. When Aang refused, he disappeared, and when he came back, he knew how to strip away a person's Bending."

Her eyes went wide. "The Avatar can do that?"

"He couldn't before," said Zuko with a chuckle, "but he sure can now." He wrapped his arm around his mother's shoulders. He was almost taller than her now. "Ozai can't hurt anyone, not ever again."

He felt a hitch in his mother's breath, and worried that he had pushed too hard. But when he looked at her teary-eyed face, she was smiling. And he knew exactly what weight she had finally been able to release.

Zuko guided Ursa around a corner in the hallway. "Here we are." Before them lay the courtyard, with the cherry tree overhanging the shallow pool, and turtleducks floating serenely in the mirrored water. "I made sure the gardeners took better care of this place once I took the throne."

"Oh, Zuko, it's beautiful!" she breathed, and slipped out of his embrace to drift toward the stone where she used to sit reading under the tree. "Thank you."

Fire Lord Zuko knew that she meant much more than just the garden.


	9. Returning to Old Haunts

It had taken longer than he'd ever expected for Zuko to figure out where, on a map, Lee's tiny village had been. He'd been starving, delirious, and letting his ostrichhorse make most of the decisions at that point. But finally, one of his scouts had reported that there in fact was a tiny village at the place where he'd pointed on the map.

Lee wouldn't be that eight-year-old little boy anymore. It had taken four years to find the place. The boy would be as old now as Aang had been during the war. That might actually be for the best, he thought. Eight-year-old Lee hadn't been too keen on anything Fire Nation. Maybe Twelve-year-old Lee would be able to separate the War Fire Nation from Zuko's Fire Nation.

The massive entourage that paraded into the tiny town was almost comical. No, thought Zuko, there was nothing almost about this. Dozens of ostrichhorses, and almost three times as many people, all dressed in the finery of the royal house. And around them, the dusty, tan, desert's edge town where hardship and sacrifice were the name of the game.

Zuko rode up front, against the wishes of his Guard Captain, in the hopes that Lee would spot him and not immediately hate him.

"What are you doing here?"

Fire Lord Zuko turned to look with his good eye at the shadowed alley where the voice had echoed. A tall, thin, dusty-faced young man stood in the shadows, his messy hair tied back. But those eyes, the startling green of the Earth Kingdom, they were familiar. "Lee," Zuko breathed, and dismounted his ostrichhorse. "It's... good to see you. How are your parents doing?"

"My father never came back either."

The familiar grief of war felt like a gut punch after four years of peace, and Zuko hung his head. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, Lee."

The boy's face did not soften. "That won't bring my family back, now will it?"

"No, it won't," the Fire Lord agreed sadly. "You helped me when no one else would. And you helped me even more when you turned your back on me. You showed me exactly how much harm the Fire Nation had caused."

Lee looked concerned. "So, what, now the Fire Lord owes some dirt poor Earth Kingdom peasant?" He spat the words like a curse.

"Yes." Zuko motioned to his entourage, and a few specific men dismounted and moved into town. "I brought enough grain to fill every livestock farmer's barn, enough gold to pay for every product in the market without actually taking the products, architects to repair buildings and fences, and engineers to deepen your well, to make sure the water keeps flowing."

Lee looked shellshocked, and it took a moment for him to respond. "Why?"

"Because," explained Zuko, "you taught me what it was to be hated for something someone else did. That means more than you know." He thought of the years he had wasted hating himself for his father's actions, the years he had strived to correct mistakes that were not his own, and the decades of hating the other Nations just because he was told to. Sure, Lee had hurt him, but it was the way he did it, that showed Zuko the light for the first time. Lee had changed everything. He had changed the world. "I want to give you something, too."

Lee looked awed, now, and confused. "What?"

Reaching back into his saddlebags, Zuko withdrew a small jar wrapped in soft green cloth. The green had been particularly hard to come by in the Fire Nation, but he had insisted it not be red. "Here," he said, setting it gently in Lee's small hands.

The boy unwrapped the jar, revealing a small, flickering flame, sealed inside by a cork. "What is this," he growled with suspicion, holding the jar at arms length.

Zuko gave a sad smile. "If you open the cork, the flame will steady itself and survive, forever. It will not grow or fade, it will not destroy. It will provide light and nothing else." He relaxed a bit when Lee brought the jar closer to inspect it. "But if you press the cork in just a bit tighter," the Fire Lord explained, "it will run out of air and snuff itself out."

It had taken a lot of thought and experimenting to find a way to give Lee power over fire. It was gratifying to see the realization dawn on the young man now. And more so when he didn't immediately tighten down the cork and snuff out the flame.


	10. Pink is a Good Aura

"Zuko! Hey, Zuko!"

The bubbly voice was coming from just behind the Royal Guard's line, among the crowd of citizens calling "Traitor!" "Coward!" "Savior!" The calls of anger were more prolific than the support. But then the one bright figure shouted "Zuko!"

"Ty Lee? Is that you!" Zuko looked to his Head of the Guard, and gave the signal to let her through. "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" She exclaimed, bounding up to him and wrapping him in an easy hug for just a moment before falling back. "I'm taking a short break from being a Kyoshi Warrior to come see my family!"

Zuko smiled to hide his surprise. "I thought you hated your family. Why would you want to visit them?"

She adopted an exaggerated frown. "Not them, silly. I'm visiting you!"

The Fire Lord stood dumbfounded for a moment before he was able to choke out, "Ty Lee, that's so sweet."

Instantly, she was beaming again. "So what have you been up to, Mr Fire Lord?"

Zuko guided her out of the public road and into the large jewelry shop he had come here to peruse. "Oh, you know. Fire Lord stuff. Meetings, treaties, restructuring an entire colonial empire into a more benevolent monarchy."

Ty Lee threw back her head and let out a peal of ringing laughter, and Zuko couldn't help but smile. "That's a good one, Zuko!" She put a hand on his shoulder, and with a big smile, proclaimed "Your sense of humor has really improved since your father was put in prison."

And now, even though her smile was genuine and her intentions were pure, Zuko wanted to find a way out. He hadn't gotten up the nerve to even speak about his father yet, let alone joke about him. Certainly not to see him. The reminder sent phantom tingles dancing through his nerve-dead scar, remembered heat and pain that were only just beginning to fade from his dreams.

Never one to miss a change in someone's aura, Ty Lee studied his face intently. "I'm sorry, Zuko. You know I didn't mean to bring that back. I won't say anything about it again until you do."

Her warm, apologetic smile did help to ease the weight in his stomach. "I know, Ty Lee. Thank you."

"So whatcha doing here?"

Zuko looked around at the shiny cases filled with crafted metal, and turned a conspiratorial eye on his friend. "I'm going to ask Mai to marry me."


	11. The Firelight Fountain

Earth King Kuei couldn't say that he was happy to see Zuko leave, but the Fire Lord was sure that King Kuei was happy to see him leave.

The diplomatic mission had been a success. The Earth Kingdom was going to secede a small swath of land on the coast for the foundation of an independent city, not beholden to any one of the four Nations.

As Zuko rode Druk over the high walls of Ba Sing Se, he traced the familiar streets in his mind. There was his uncle's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon, and the apartment they had lived in in the Upper Ring. There, in the Lower Ring, was the dirty shack they had occupied before that. And there, just to the side a little, the Firelight Fountain, where Zuko had risked everything to show a poor Earth Kingdom refugee just a touch of happiness.

Druk, sensing his companion's wishes, turned and flew low over the fountain. Three figures were standing in the little secluded square, two large, adults, and one small. As they drew closer, Druk's shadow passed over them, drawing their eyes skyward.

The child squealed and clapped at the sight of a dragon, but the adults were less enthusiastic. They scrambled to the edge of the circle of lanterns, and called for the child to follow them. Druk landed carefully on the other side of the fountain to avoid scaring them any more than he had to, and the child, a boy no more than four years old, came jogging unsteadily to meet him.

Druk layed his head flat on the ground a safe distance from the little boy, and Fire Lord Zuko stepped off his neck and into the paved square. "Well, hello there," he said as the boy kept approaching. He knelt down like he would for his daughter, and smiled, angling his face to minimize his scar.

"Is that the Fire Lord?" Said the woman from a distance.

"Jinpa, get back here!" Called the man, sidling forward with one eye fixed on the dragon.

"It's okay," called Zuko, "Druk won't hurt anyone." He chuckled. "Is this little one yours?" He knew his Royal Guard would be furious, but he also knew they would hold their tongue. He picked up the little boy, braced him on his right hip, and stepped away from Druk toward the boy's parents. "He's a wonderfully curious child."

"I am so sorry, Mr. Fire Lord, Sir," the man stammered, trying to bow and retrieve Jinpa at the same time. "He doesn't know how to act around nobility, yet."

The boy's mother approached with less deference and took Jinpa, staring straight into Zuko's eyes. "Funny seeing you here again," she said with no humor.

A weight settled into Zuko's stomach. He should have known he would run into someone who knew him, coming back to his old haunts. But who was this? He looked over the woman's rough but steady hands, long brown hair that seemed to do what it wanted, and wide, innocent green eyes. "Jin," he breathed.

"Oh, the Fire Lord recognizes me," she drolled. "You know, I wracked my brain for years, wondering what I had done wrong, what possibly would have compelled you to run from me, and here of all places."

Zuko fought back tears. "And then, something happened, and you knew." He kept a smile, for the boy, who was looking back and forth between his mother and the stranger in red silk.

Jin scoffed, "Yeah, something happened. You were coronated." She pursed her lips, ignoring the shocked look on her, presumably husband's, face. "Imagine my surprise," she glared, "when I see a drawing of you posted on the message board, all in red and gold. Fire Lord Zuko," she recited. "How many people knew you as Lee?"

"A lot," Zuko admitted, and the dragon crooned sadly behind him. "You understand, though, there was nothing I could do."

Jin closed her piercing green eyes and sighed. "Oh, I know. I had a few years to think about it." Jinpa patted her face, and she opened her eyes again to smile warmly at her son. "But I suppose life has a way of always adapting." She brought up a hand to boop the child's nose. "It brought me you, didn't it?"


	12. Drinking Contest

Fire Lord Zuko and Chief Sokka sat across a small table from each other, staring intently into each others' eyes. A server approached the table with a tray full of small glasses, filled with amber liquid. The tall woman in green set the tray on the table.

Like the crack of a whip to start a race, each man reached out to take a glass, and downed it. Zuko grinned as the familiar burn of fire whiskey raced down his throat and sent tingles all the way to his toes. He took another glass. Sokka coughed and grimaced, slamming the first glass into the table upside-down, and took a second.

When Zuko was five in to Sokka's three, the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe hacked, "Enough! Damn, hotman, this stuff has a nasty kick!"

The Fire Lord guffawed at his old friend. "Just the thing to warm your frozen toes!" His head swam pleasantly and he sighed. " so how has the reconstruction been going? We are both so busy, I haven't seen you since my wedding."

Sokka had to finish coughing before he could say, "Good, good! Having Waterbenders to make walls and stairs and roofs makes it so much easier." He grinned at Zuko and asked, "How about you, big guy? I hear Republic City is really buzzing."

"Yeah," Zuko laughed, "the buzz of all the electronics can get to you." He downed another shot and grinned. "But, so far at least, Aang has been able to keep the peace between all the Benders."

"Tha's amazing!" Sokka cheered, and slapped his hand on the table. "Who'da thought, after a hun'red years of WAR, that all the Benders could be toge'er on one city..." His head swayed, and suddenly hit the table.

Zuko laughed, and swayed. Tha's what happens when a Water Tribe warrior tries to drink like a Firebender. Zuko was burning half of the alcohol right out of his blood. Right?

The room spun a little, and Zuko thought his friend might fall! How many drinks had he had now? Maybe it was time to sleep. Sokka seemed comfy. And the Royal Guard was right ousside if an'thing happened.


	13. Retirement

The day of Izumi's coronation. He couldn't believe he actually got to see it. There was a time in Zuko's life that he hadn't thought he would live to see his home again, then he hadn't thought he would live past the coming of Sozin's Comet. But today, he lived to see his daughter's coronation. Destiny was funny that way.

After the ceremony, Avatar Aang had motioned covertly from the stage for Zuko to join him for a drink to celebrate. Druk had thought it was a grand idea, and it wasn't like he had Fire Lord duties to attend to anymore. Plus, he really missed his friend. Aang had been busy in the new Republic City, and raising his family, and also being the Avatar, that they hadn't seen each other in many years.

Zuko entered the restaurant Aang had pointed to during the ceremony, and waved to the man behind the counter. "Hey! Kadju! How's the wife and kids?"

"Hey! Fire Lord Zuko!" the man called back with a jovial wave. "What should I call you now that your daughter is Fire Lord?"

"Just Zuko, if you don't mind!" he chuckled. "Have you seen my friend? I was supposed to meet him here." He held his hand out flat above his head. "He's about this tall, bald, master of all the elements?"

Kadju laughed and pointed. "I was wondering why the Avatar was here."

Zuko smiled and turned into the side room the man had pointed to, and there, in all his bright orange raiment, sat his old friend. "Aang!"

"Zuko! My old friend, I'm glad you found the place!" The Avatar's gray eyes shone with mirth and a touch of whiskey.

Zuko took the seat beside his friend, but waved away the glass Aang offered. "I haven't touched fire whiskey since Sokka and I drank each other under the table forty years ago," he laughed.

The tattooed head leaned back with a hearty chuckle. "I had forgotten about that! Maybe a glass of spiced beer, then!" He waved, and a server outside the room acknowledged with a nod.

"Well, how've you been?" asked Zuko, leaning in to hear about his friend's latest exploits in the wide open world. Soon enough now, he and Druk would be able to fly out to see it themselves.

Aang smiled and downed his glass. "Ah, Zuko, you would love Republic City," he crooned, distant eyes tracing familiar buildings that Zuko couldn't see. "Firebenders creating electricity, Waterbenders powering ships and transporting drinking water, Earthbenders fixing potholes and repairing buildings. It's like a dream."

Zuko loved the peace in his friend's face. "Now that I'm free of the throne, you'll be able to show me around!"

The Avatar's eyes darkened. "Yeah, when this Yakone situation settles a bit." He sighed. "There's always something, isn't there?"

"I know that feeling," the former Fire Lord remarked. "How is your family doing?"

Aang's eyes were sparkling again. "My son, Tenzin? He founded a new Air Temple just outside the city, and is acting as a representative for the new Air Nation! There's an Air Nation again, Zuko! Can you believe it?"

Zuko grinned to match his friend. "That's wonderful!"

Aang downed another shot, and a server set a heavy mug of beer at Zuko's right hand.

By the end of the night, Zuko was drunk again, and he and Aang fell into repeating renditions of Four Seasons until Kadju kicked them out of the building.


End file.
